The Lonely Hearts 06 The Grunt 2 (9 page)

“Ready?” she asked, eyes wet from impending tears.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, looking back at Jeffery. 

“We should go home first,” Courtney said, looking down at the floor.

“No, I want to know what’s going on
now
!” Brett said, waiting for Jeffery to tell him.  “Are the babies okay?” His first mind went to his children.  Had something happened to them?  Had something happened to Diane?

Jeffery twisted up his lip and stood up straighter.  “The kids are fine.”

“Then who isn’t?” Brett asked.  He knew that look.  Something horrible had happened…again.

“I was hoping we could discuss this once I got you home,” Jeffery said, looking around.

“And I respect you for your dignity, sir, but I insist,” Brett said, swallowing hard.  “Tell me now…whatever it is.”

Jeffery couldn’t say no.  Had he been in Brett’s shoes, he would have insisted on the same in a lot less respectful way.

Courtney’s eyes overflowed with tears.  With her hands balled up beside her, she waited for Brett to explode, to make some scene in this place. 

“Son, I am sorry to relay this message,” Jeffery said, shaking his head.  He stepped up closer to the young man. “Your entire team expired last evening at around 2300 hours our time while in the Zabul Province on an Op.” 

Brett bit down on his lip and tears welded up in his eyes.  Gripping the sides of his crutches tighter, his entire body began to tremble. 

“Everyone?” he asked, blinking fast as the hot tears dropped down on to his cheeks.

“Everyone,” Colonel Lawless answered regrettably.  “We found out last night.  David called, wanted to call you at the hospital but I advised against it.  Considering that you had to make the flight from Baltimore back here; I felt it best to tell you now.”  He put his hand on his shoulder.  “But I still didn’t want to tell you like this…out in public. I was hoping to wait until you got home…seemed like the most decent thing to do.” 

“Doesn’t really matter, does it, sir?” Brett’s Adam’s apple bobbed in his muscular neck.  “They’re still dead.”  Even as he said the words, he simply could not believe it.

“They died bravely serving their country,” Jeffery said, stepping back. 

“How did they die?  What killed them?”  Joe’s face flashed through Brett’s mind. 

“An IED,” Jeffery said, shoving his fists down into his pants pockets.  “They completed the operation successfully.  However, the extraction was ambushed.”

Brett shook his head and took in a deep breath as the tears rolled.  Courtney stood beside them, looking at her husband in complete sympathy.  She was angry that he had been injured, angry that his team had been killed, angry that the war had not ended after all this time but so thankful to God that Brett had been spared. 

The men whispered something between them and then Jeffery wrapped his arms around Brett and held him for a minute, seeing that Brett couldn’t keep his tears and sobs at bay.  When Jeffery was certain that he could standalone, he picked up the bags and escorted them to the car.

“I’m so sorry.” Courtney said while rubbing Brett’s back.

“I just want to get home,” Brett said, barely above a whisper. “Take me home, baby.”

Chapter 8

“Homecoming means coming home to what’s in your heart.”  - Anonymous

It was near dusk when the car pulled up to Brett’s house, he looked at it from the driveway as if it were completely foreign to him – not because it had been run down since he was gone, but because it was so very picturesque.

Courtney had been up to her normal overhauls – a continual process to make their home better, more comfortable and more inviting.  She was like her mother in that respect, always preparing for the night that she would be called on to be the hostess.  And she played her role well.  Every single detail of their home was full of love and thought, a thing that he had become accustomed to with her around but still appreciated. 

The yard was well-manicured, the garden tended to and filled with plants, flowers, bushes, rambling purple Clematis vines and red mulch; new sparkly butterfly stickers were on the mailbox, and a crisp United States flag flew patriotically on a pole attached to the front of their home.  It was peaceful and beautiful and yet another reminder of why men happily went to their deaths over there, so that no one would ruin the lives that they have here. 

The sprinkler was out in the middle of the lawn, rotating its flow of fresh water into the earth right beside the red-hatted gnome that he and Courtney noticed on a day trip to Morehead.  Newly cleaned windows gleamed in front of white plantation blinds around the house.  Track lights lined the perfectly edged corners of the lawn leading up to the front steps.   On the porch, the two rocking chairs sat with yellow pillows on their seats and in between the chairs was a large tin canister filled with vibrant yellow sunflowers. 

Parked in front of the garage was his beloved black F-150 truck, clean as a whistle and waiting for him. Beside it was Courtney’s new little red supercharged Fiat.  The vehicles made a handsome pair, just like them. 

Alas, everything was in order.  Everything was well taken care of - a thing that he could not have expected if his late wife had been here.  Amy was a woman of waste, and where she was not lazy, she was selfish, a combination that did not bode well for housework, yard work or
work
in general.  He saw that even more now being married to Courtney – oh what world he nearly missed. 

Pulling himself from his thoughts, he slowly stepped out of Colonel Lawless’ immaculate Lincoln Navigator with his crutches leading him and closed the door. 

“Welcome home,” Courtney said, leaning in and giving him a kiss. 

Brett rubbed her back as he looked at his house. “It’s good to be home.”  He looked down into her hazel eyes.  “You kept the place real nice, baby.” His southern Texas drawl seemed to come out most when he was emotional.  And today he was a basket case, though he tried desperately to keep it together. 

“I do what I can,” she said with a wink.  “Now come inside.  I’m going to fix a big dinner for you; run you a bath and we’re going to relax.”

“Actually, I had hoped to go in and get settled, and then see what Judy and the kids need.  Word got to her, right?”  Brett asked, looking over at Jeffery.

“Yes, she’s been notified.”  Jeffery popped the back of the SUV open, grabbed their bags, and carried them up to the porch before Brett could protest. 

“Do you think now is a good…” Courtney was cut off right before she asked the most obvious question of the day. 

“Well, I’ll be damned,” a female voice said from the house next door. 

Brett looked over to see their neighbor, Allison, as she stepped out of the front door of her home and made her way over to them.  “Is that really you?” she asked, throwing her checkered hand towel over her shoulder.

“It’s me,” Brett said with a painted on grin.  Although he wanted to rush right into the house, Allison was a friend and considering how scarce those were getting for him; he needed to be as amicable as possible. 

Allison and Terry were the neighbors who moved into the rental home beside them.  They were a military family, where Allison took on the role as the stay at home wife who took care of all things domestic and Terry took on all things foreign as a Naval Intelligence Officer.

However,
don’t ask-don’t tell
didn’t stop them from keeping their marriage as quiet as possible.  Being a lesbian still wasn’t widely accepted on or off military installations in North Carolina.  But the way that Brett saw it, neither was being an interracial couple. They both got dirty looks and quiet whispers, so he was in good company. 

With a bright smile, Allison quickly skipped through the wet grass with bare feet exposing hot pink, freshly painted toenails and rolled up Ralph Lauren khaki pants, looking like a Stepford wife.  Chipper and grinning, she wrapped her arms around him and gave him a big hug.  “Mmm.  Good to have you back, Marine.”

“Good to be back,” he answered, wondering when she was going to ask what happened to him. “You’re in a great mood.”

Allison rose on up her tiptoes.  “It’s the Xanax,” she confessed. 

“Hey, girl,” Courtney said, kissing her cheek.

“Hey
yourself
,” Allison said, kissing her back.  She adjusted her turquoise Tiffany eyeglasses and smoothed her blonde bob.  “I told Diane that I’d keep an eye on the house. She stopped by and told me what happened.” Making an
ouch
noise, she glanced down at Brett’s leg.  “I’ve just been going in and watering the plants, changing the lights from room to room each night, picking up your mail and watching porn on your computer. You know
nothing big
.  I’ll bill you later for my services.” 

Brett chuckled under his breath.

“You’re a lifesaver,” Courtney said gratefully.

“No worries. We have to look out for each other.” Glancing over at Mr. Lawless as he stepped inside with the bags, she whispered.  “Some guy and an old lady came looking for you.  They seemed really…” She searched her mind for the right words.  “Really right wing conservative nut bags.” 

That got Brett’s attention. “Who was it?” he asked.

Allison bucked her eyes as she tried to accurately recall.  “Said that she was your late wife’s mother, the guy didn’t say who he was.  He looked suspect.”

Brett couldn’t take any worse or big news.  He’d figure it all out later. Plus, the mention of the Riley’s made his blood boil with anger.  Both of those old Bible-thumping racists were shit starters and always looking for a way to insert themselves into Cameron’s life.  So if they were showing up here, then it wasn’t good. 

He scratched the back of his neck and debated if he should ask Allison for one of her happy pills.
Naw, better not.
“You girls can gab if you want.  I know that’s what you do, and I don’t want to stop you. But I need to get in here off this foot for a minute.  Allison,” Brett said, leaning over and kissing her cheek, “it’s good to see your face, darling. I’ll buy some beer and we can catch up soon with you and Terry.”

“We’d both like that,” Allison said, rubbing Courtney’s shoulder.  “We’ll do our normal coffee in a couple days.  I’ll give you a minute to settle down first.  Then, I want to know
everything
.”

“It’s a lot worse than the leg,” Courtney said, as Brett walked off.

Allison frowned.  “What happened?”

“Joe and the whole team…” Courtney tried to say the words, but they just brought tears to her eyes.  Even she couldn’t quite process yet what had happened to their friends.  “No one made it.”

Allison’s mood suddenly perked out.  Dropping her shoulders, she looked at Brett as he made his way up the porch and shook her head.  “Damn, girl.  How is he handling it?”

Courtney looked back at her husband and shrugged her shoulders.  “I honestly don’t know.”

***

As soon as Jeffery set the bags down in the den, he turned and headed straight for the front door.  He had been home from deployment before, so he knew that the two of them just wanted to be alone, but more than that, he understood that Brett needed time to decompress.  Right now, Brett was still trying to process all that had happened around him and to him, but eventually, he was going to have to let the anger out, and that would require or should require utter privacy.

Courtney came through the front door shortly after Brett. Wiping a tear before Brett could turn around and see, she cleared her throat and smiled.  “Dad, I’ll be on my way in a little bit to pick up the kids.”

Jeffery raised a hand in protest.  “The kids are fine. They are keeping Diane entertained.  Leave them there tonight and just be with your husband.”

“I don’t mind, sir,” Brett interjected quickly.

Jeffery wasn’t hearing it.  “You kids can pick them up in the morning, if you like.”  His voice boomed with the kind of authority that dared to be questioned.

And that was that. 

Courtney kissed her father’s cheek and Brett shook his hand before he made a very neat and quick exit out the front door.

Alone at last, Brett looked around the house at the updates.  New hardwood dark cedar floors had been put in the entryway foyer.  New drapes for the living and dining room.  New paintings.  Fresh paint of a neutral but very warming color connected the front rooms with a splash of bright yellow in the hall leading upstairs.

“Impressive,” he said as she circled in front of him. 

“You like?” she asked, voice slightly flat. 

“Yeah, it looks like something out of Southern Living,” he noticed her mood change.  “Did I say something?”

Courtney was used to being alone after eight months.  It caught her off guard that he was actually physically there and recognized the slightest of her emotions.  She tried to look up with a smile, but it was lost on him.  Why bother? 
Be honest
, she thought to herself. “I don’t think you should go to Judy’s tonight.”

“I’m sure that they need me.  This isn’t the kind of news that you need to hear alone.”

“I need you,” she insisted.  “And I’m not being selfish.”  Her inner-voice laughed at her. Of course, she was being selfish.  “Plus, maybe what she needs is a moment to be alone.”  She stammered over herself. “I know how I would feel.”

Brett smacked his lips and looked off but didn’t argue.  He didn’t want to be difficult with her.  But that was just the point…she didn’t have to know how it felt to have her husband dead, because he was right in front of her. No one could say the same for Judy.

Unable to read his face, she sucked in a slightly irritated breath.  “So are you going to go?” Courtney followed up after a long silence.

Brett ducked his head. “Yes.”  He braced himself for a barrage of reasons why he shouldn’t.

But Courtney didn’t give him the response he was expecting.

“Okay,” she said, moving her hair out of her face and taking a deep breath.  “Well, we should pick up some food to go with.”

“Sounds good.  I’ll call her now and see what she’d like.”

Before he could reach for his phone, Courtney had already pulled out hers.  She passed it to him without showing the attitude hiding behind her eyes. “Here, use mine.”

He took it and smiled gratefully. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” Courtney said, walking off.  “I’m going to put away our things.  You make your call.” 
That last part had two meanings
.

Brett knew that she was upset.  In fact, he knew that she was right.  He needed to be home with her right now, but he couldn’t deny the push inside of him to keep going.  Joe was gone.  His best friend was dead, and now he had to be there not only for his family but also for Judy and the kids.  He just hoped that Courtney would eventually understand and work with him on it, instead of fight him. 

Dialing Judy’s number, he went to the dining room and sat at the tall table.  Getting the weight off his foot felt good. 

On the second ring, Judy answered, voice slightly nasally from crying. “Hello.”

“Judy, its Brett.”

“Brett,” Judy paused.  “I’m sorry that I didn’t call you up at the hospital.  Joe told me about a week ago what happened.”  She sniffled.

“No worries,” he said, running his finger down the table to make a streak.  “I just got home and was just told what happened.  Damn, Judy. I’m so sorry.”  He wanted to tell her how he really felt; that it was his fault.  If he hadn’t been injured, none of this might have ever happened.  But he decided not to make this about him. 

“Nothing you could have done, Brett.  Don’t apologize.”  She looked at the picture of her husband she was holding as she sat alone in the dark den.  “I’m just glad one of you made it.”

Brett sucked his teeth and hunkered down on the words that wanted to badly to sneak from his tongue.  “I was going to come over and bring you and the kids something to eat.”

“No, Brett.  Thank you, but I just want to be alone.”

Brett nodded and pushed back in the seat.

“How about tomorrow or the next day even?  I need some time,” Judy tried to explain.

“Whenever you want, Judy,” Brett said, hearing Courtney dragging the luggage from the den toward the foyer.  “I just want you to know that I’m here for you.”

“I appreciate you,” Judy said, sobbing a little. “I just…I need to be alone for now.”